On This Day: 13 Sept

On Sept. 13, 2007, Japan launched the Kaguya spacecraft on a delegation to the moon. Officially known as SELENE, which is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, it was Japan's second moon mission.

Kaguya launched from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-IIA rocket and looped about the Earth twice before heading to the moon. It carried 14 science instruments and two microsatellites to map the moon's surface and study its gravitational field.

After a 20-day journey, it arrived in lunar orbit. The missionary work included three spacecraft: the main orbiter, a small communications satellite, and a third small satellite to map the moon's gravitational field. After nearly a year of lunar observations, the mission ended with a planned crash landing on the lunar surface.